YESTERDAY was Steve Martin’s first on the Manhattan set of “The Pink Panther,” and the comedian has already fallen on his face.

But such pratfalls are to be expected, since Martin is playing one of filmdom’s great bumblers – French Inspector Jacques Clouseau.

Sporting a disturbingly pencil-thin mustache, Martin stumbled down the steps of the subway stop at 28th Street and Seventh Avenue, as a massive film crew began shooting the first Clouseau movie since Roberto Benigni’s “Son of the Pink Panther” in 1993.

The movie, which will film in New York through mid-June, is a modern look at the classic Peter Sellers character, best known from Blake Edwardsdirected movies like “The Pink Panther” (1963) and “A Shot in

the Dark” (1964).

Reinventing the character is a longtime dream project for Martin, who co-wrote the screenplay for the new “Pink Panther” and gave it a 21stcentury spin.

“Clouseau is still this absurdist, bumbling character, but now he’s at the mercy of today’s technology,” says the movie’s director, Shawn Levy.

“The sense of humor is loyal to the originals, but with Steve’s screenwriting, there’s a level of wit and sharp

observations of the way the world is now.

“With Clouseau stumbling through that world, it just seems fresh. There are a lot of new playthings for him to screw up.”

The film’s chief bombshell is Beyoncé, fresh off her own worldwide concert tour, as an international pop-music sensation/murder suspect named Xania.

In the scene shot yesterday, Clouseau was tailing Xania with help from his straight-man partner, Ponton (played by French actor Jean Reno). Clouseau and Ponton tried to hide behind newspapers, but of course

Clouseau flubbed the job, and wound up falling down the subway stairs – a shot the 58-year-old Martin had to do three times before Levy was satisfied.

Martin and company will be filming on sound stages and on location around the city, including in Central Park, in front of the New York Public Library and at the Plaza Hotel, before moving on to Paris and Prague, with plans to deliver the film to theaters next summer.

“It’s only the first day,” said film publicist Rachel Aberly. “But so far, so good.”